the final days of his mother, karen silkwood. trying to piece this love is all we need ♪ together what might have happened to her. >> this area feels almost ♪ oh we've got so much abandoned in a state of decay. >> she once worked at this long you and me oh you and me ♪ shuttered nuclear fuel plant. >> obviously, it's creepy ♪ belong together because it feels so abandoned. it feels so empty. like cold iced tea >> 1st november night, she never and warmer weather ♪ came home after her car crashed ♪ where we lay out late into a concrete wall one mile underneath the pines from the plant. 50 years later, and we still have fun ♪ he's still haunted by unanswered ♪ when the sun won't shine questions about that night. you and me belong together >> as her son, i would like to all the time ♪ have a definitive answer of what ♪ it goes on and on and on really took place. i don't want to speculate for the rest of our it goes on and on and on lives. if anybody out there knows what happened, what it goes on and on and on hey ♪ happened? >> she was blowing the whistle on the company that we believe yep led to her death. [ cheers and applause ] >> karen silkwood tried to expose the dangers at a plutonium plant. >> the story of her untimely death captivating a nation. >> she died in a car crash.

>> the mystery. what caused the crash? >> she was on her way to deliver documents to a new york times this is nightline. reporter about radiation exposure in the plutonium plant. >> tonight, the glam makeover. >> it appeared at the scene. and >> when you're this young and this fabulous, it's called glam from the physical evidence at the scene that she ran off the mom. >> real housewives star nene road by herself and even leakes may have coined the phrase, but more and more women inspiring an oscar nominated are saying they want to look as movie starring a young meryl streep as silkwood. good as they feel. the growing trend of women in their golden years turning to cosmetic >> kill me. >> they're trying to kill me. surgery. they want me to stop what i'm >> well, i want to look good no, doing. not later when i'm in my late >> today, a renewed interest in just what exactly happened on 70s. >> aging's got a brand new look. that deserted and darkened >> someone will show me a photo oklahoma highway 50 years ago. >> he was 100% positive that of themselves in a bikini from some time ago and say, i want to be this me again. karen silkwood did not die from >> what doctors say you should know before going under the falling asleep at the wheel. knife. plus name. karen. silkwood. silkwood. the real >> are you ready for a mystery? life story made famous by the hollywood blockbuster starring >> with a new generation taking meryl streep. >> they're trying to kill me. to social media fascinated by silkwood story. >> however, it wasn't long after they want me to stop what i'm doing. >> 50 years after karen silkwoo, starting this job that she realized just how unsafe the sudden death along a deserted highway renewed interest in her working conditions were.

case on social media. >> are you ready for a mystery? >> mike, you found it. what? >> and a son looking for answers? >> we just want to know if silkwood storage, an abc news anybody out there knows what investigation. happened. >> breathing new life into a case gone cold. >> the abc news investigation >> holy cow! i got goosebumps. into her death. >> silkwood. storage. vegas. yeah, it's all here. >> dallas with newly unearthed >> investigative reporters mike audio recordings. boettcher and bob sands. >> holy cow. i got goosebumps. >> holy mackerel. >> was her death really an >> chasing down leads on a new accident? yeah. >> it's all here. podcast, radioactive. the karen >> or something more sinister. >> holy mackerel! >> and people. sexiest man silkwood mystery. >> it's a silkwood investigation. tapes. here they alive. so hot. >> he should run for office. are. >> they are? >> he should run for office. >> nightline will be right back >> these are audiotapes. some of them are marked with the names of people that we think may have . metamucil's psyllium fiber been involved in her death. helps keep your digestive system moving so you can feel lighter and more energetic. >> was her death an accident, or was there something deeper and metamucil keeps you movin'. and try fizzing fiber plus vitamins. more sinister, hidden just beneath the surface? >> karen silkwood was a worker at a nuclear fuel fabricating ♪ plant in oklahoma. so this was a plant that took a mixture of

metamucil keeps you movin'. (vo) purina cares here. plutonium and uranium, put it into pellets. >> steve walker first met karen when they were part of the same union. >> okay. okay. now talk to karen silkwood. >> he recorded this one phone call with karen weeks before her death. she's telling him about what it's like inside the kerr-mcgee plutonium plant. we've got 18 and 19 year old boys, you know, and 20 and 21. >> i mean, and they don't they didn't have the schooling, so they don't understand what to the next. radiation is. did they even send my lab work...? >> the handling of plutonium is wait, was i supposed to bring that? then there's the forms. the bills. the 'not a bills.' supposed to be very strict. the.... ”press 4 to repeat these options.” there's always supposed to be a [chaotic music] barrier between the worker and [inspirational music] plutonium. and what was going on healthcare can get a whole lot easier in this plant was that barrier when your medical records, was being breached on a daily care and coverage are in one place. basis. >> he says karen claims that at kaiser permanente, important safety procedures were all of us work together

for all that is you. . ignored and factory reports falsified. all putting workers health and safety at risk. but in order to prove it, they'd need evidence, which steve says karen offered to pull together. >> we picked november the 13th, >> thanks for joining us 1974, as a date when she would tonight. women of a certain age meet with myself and a reporter redefining what it means to grow for the new york times in the older from glow ups and grandma weeks leading up to the meeting. makeovers to tummy tucks and >> her apartment. even karen facelifts. ladies hitting the or herself, testing positive for in order to look on the outside plutonium poisoning, an unforgettable scene as like they say they feel on the inside. from cher rocking the dramatized in the movie. >> how did that plutonium get in victoria's secret fashion show at age 78 and actress trying my house? >> did you put it there? >> did i what? what are you crazy? think. you think i real housewives of atlanta star nene leakes telling conan she is not a grandma. contaminate myself? you think >> i'm a glam mom. okay. very i'd do that? >> i was worried about her. as nice. when you're this young and to whether or not she was going this fabulous, it's called glam to live. mom. >> i tell you, karen, you better >> aging looks different now. get the f out of there. that gone are the golden girls. place is going to turn into a >> and you let her march out that door with your best piece hellhole. it's going to get. i'm going to shut them down before i of crystal. hello, police. yeah, go. >> karen's colleague would later i'd like to report a robbery.

give a sworn affidavit about >> now, carrie bradshaw and seeing her the night of the scheduled meeting. how karen clutched a manila folder full of friends are being fabulous in their 50s. end. and just like papers and possibly photographs. >> she said, i've got everything that, carrie. party of three. together. and she did. i swear >> nice. that's us. to god, in front of god, you >> it seems that everywhere you turn, older women are taking know, she had it. >> it would be the last time she center stage. >> we're seeing a new type of was seen alive. karen never made older woman right now. you know, older women are not staying at it to that meeting with the reporter. and steve walk a mile home and knitting socks for from the plant. >> she was killed. the documents their children and their have disappeared. >> it appeared at the scene and children's children. >> and to look as good as they from the physical evidence at feel. some are turning to plastic surgery. the scene that she ran off the >> i think this is to me, this is the best stage i'm in. you road by herself. were much more confident. you >> it's a version that the were so sure of yourself or what oklahoma state highway patrol you want. you don't care about maintained years after telling abc news at the time. what people say. you make your own choices. like plastic >> i would either put her surgery. probably either totally asleep >> maria inés morales was 61 or in some state of stupor from when she decided to get a tummy tuck. >> to me, it's just a matter of induced by the medication she self-care. like when you know we was taking. >> she was just on the highway for a few minutes. she couldn't all take care of our teeth, we have fallen asleep. exercise, we eat healthy. and to >> karen's union didn't believe me, plastic surgery is just the official findings and

something natural like that. brought in their own expert, a it's part of life. renowned crash investigator >> maria, who's originally from named pipkin. he'd later consult brazil, has never been shy about on the tragic crash that killed her plastic surgeries. >> i had a facelift eight years princess diana. >> in my opinion, and the people that i've had working with me, ago and that changed my life. there's no circumstantial evidence there to indicate that and again, people around me, somebody may another vehicle may have hit the car in the rear. most of my friends are saying, >> on his deathbed decades you're too young for that. you later, pipkin asked his daughter to save a key piece of evidence shouldn't do that. and i said, from that investigation. karen's well, i want to look good now, car bumper. hoping that modern not later when i'm in my late science might one day shed new 70s. light on what happened. >> now 64, maria, who has two investigative reporter bob and grown kids, says the saggy skin on her stomach began to bother mike are driving across the country to examine the family her. >> a lot of women forget about heirloom pipkin's daughter has their bodies because you cover been safeguarding. your clothes right? but to me, >> can i take it down? >> sure. oh, yes. please take it even even if i don't have to wear a bikini again, i would down. okay. yeah. have done the tummy tuck because >> okay, i got that. i got it. i think you're pretty clear. it's me. i can take care of it. >> so maria turned to doctor >> my god. darren smith, a plastic surgeon >> holy mackerel. there's black in new york city. stuff in it still. yeah. let me. >> plastic surgery is continuing oh my gosh. yeah. to become more accepted, and i >> it's still got it's still got think that people are feeling

flecks or something. still. more empowered to do what they >> is that good? want for themselves at any age. >> yeah. it's good. yeah. >> doctor smith specializes in >> this physical piece of evidence now a critical part of the so-called mommy makeover, documenting the before and a new forensic investigation currently underway. as for afters on instagram. >> mommy makeover almost always karen's son, michael answers involves abdominal surgery, usually a tummy tuck or about what really happened that abdominoplasty, and some form of night. will never fill the hole breast surgery, which could be in his heart from losing his anything from a breast mother. >> but he still pushes on for me augmentation to a breast lift or a combination of those things. and for my family, it's the fact >> but increasingly, he's doing that there's never really been similar surgeries on even older any closure on the story women. >> we've seen a 20 to 30% uptick whatsoever. for them. the story ends at the end of the silkwood in women over 50 over the past year or so. and i think that's a movie for me. yeah. the movie pretty interesting change of trends in patients over the age was literally just the start of the story. of 70. >> the american society of plastic surgeons is reporting a >> our thanks to erin for more 30% increase in body surgeries, like tummy tucks and butt lifts, on abc's investigation and what the newly unearthed audio from 2022 to 23. in patients recordings might reveal. follow the new podcast radioactive the ages 55 to 69, the increase is karen silkwood mystery, wherever 15%. >> i really think it's a new a you get your podcasts. when we newfound freedom to be able to come back, he's been everywhere from the office to the marvel take the reins and say, hey, i cinematic universe.

might be a little older, but i still have the power to look the way that i want to look for me. >> 62 year old gina nagel is people's newest, sexiest man enjoying that freedom. >> i feel younger and more vital today than i did in my 20s, because now i'm doing things for me. i'm doing what i love to do. it's like i do what makes me happy. >> gina has two adult sons and a four year old granddaughter. >> she's the most amazing human alive. of course, just eight months ago, she decided to have a breast reduction and a tummy tuck. when i was in the process of raising my children to me at that time, it seemed. it seemed frivolous or vain. i thought about it, but i was just like, there's always something more that i could be doing with this money. like, i could be sending my children to, you know, music lessons or doing something like that. >> recently divorced, she says she began a journey of self-discovery, one that led her

to the operating table. >> at this point in my life, it wasn't because i had to, or because i need to. i wasn't trying to impress anybody. i was comfortable in my own skin. i was doing it because i wanted to, because now it was like this. this body no longer reflects who i am. >> while plastic surgery used to be something people hid. now many are talking openly about their decision to go under the knife. >> since it's come out of the bag that i've had this done, i've had two of my sisters friends reach out saying, wow, i thought i was too old to get this done. >> but no, i think once you accept yourself, you know, you say, hey, i'm 64 years old. yeah. what am i going to do? i am, but i can't do this and this and this for myself. and why am i going to hide that? you know, that's that's very empowering. >> 57 year old grandma and real people's newest, sexiest man alive after a tnf blocker like humira or remicade? put them in check with rinvoq. rinvoq works differently and it's a once-daily pill. when symptoms tried to take control, i got rapid relief with rinvoq. check. when flares tried to slow me down, i got lasting steroid-free remission with rinvoq. check. and when my doctor saw damage, rinvoq helped visibly reduce damage of the intestinal lining. check. rapid symptom relief. lasting, steroid-free remission. and visibly reduced damage. check, check and check. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal; cancers, including lymphoma and skin; heart attack, stroke, and gi tears occurred. people 50 and older with a heart disease risk factor have an increased risk of death. serious allergic reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you are or may become pregnant. put uc and crohn's in check and keep them there with rinvoq. ask your gastroenterologist about rinvoq. and learn how abbvie can help you save. hank used to suffer from what felt like a cold & flu medicine hangover in the morning. ha ha. haha! uhh, hank! switch to mucinex nightshift to relieve your cold & flu symptoms. uh oh! both help you get to sleep. mucinex is uniquely formulated to leave your system faster, so you wake up ready to go. going to work groggy? nope. try mucinex nightshift and feel the difference. it's comeback season. and she was behind the scenes for tonight's 500th episode with exclu housewives of orange county tamra judge posting her plastic surgery recovery on instagram. >> i got home from the surgery center about an hour ago, giving

her 1.8 million followers a graphic peek behind the curtain. but i'm going to keep you guys posted. >> women of amplified platforms are being far more forthcoming about work that they're doing. it's opened it up for other women to also be forthcoming and to be honest about what they're doing. >> i think talking about things that you've gotten done, for example, cosmetic procedures, is helpful again, to reduce the stigma. but i also with that think it's so important to also talk about what risks did you discuss with your provider. >> like any medical procedure, plastic surgery is not without its risks. >> so as we get older, we're more likely to use variable medications. these can interact with medications that we're using to sedate. i focus on sedation because that is one of the most highest risk parts of a procedure. and many people don't realize how risky it is. >> and although there have been some improvements on how we age, i think we're more aware. >> we're more conscious of what we're putting in our bodies. we're more aware of this health lifestyle that benefits us, and then also the advancement of public health measures. you know, these things change the way the population looks for good reason. >> some are still choosing to

get by with a little help from their surgeon friends. >> aging gracefully means different things to different people, and a large part of that is personal satisfaction and comfort. >> i'm coming back here soon. i've been talking to doctor smith for my next procedures and i happily, i have every time i come, i come in the morning. i said, wow, what a way to start the day. >> and when we come back, why the circumstances surrounding nuclear whistleblower karen silkwood's death 50 years ago is silkwood's death 50 years ago is getting a with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis e my skin was no longer mine. my active psoriatic arthritis joint symptoms held me back. don't let symptoms define you... emerge as you, with clearer skin. with tremfya®, most people saw 100% clear skin... ...that stayed clear, even at 5 years. tremfya® is proven to significantly reduce joint pain, stiffness, and swelling. serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections may occur. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tb.

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>> welcome back. karen silkwood was a single mom working at a

nuclear fuel plant who died alone along a deserted highway 50 years ago today. at the time, authorities wrote off her death as an accident, but now there's renewed interest in her case, which some still say is shrouded in mystery. here's abc's senior investigative correspondent erin katersky. >> this is the door your mom would have walked through. going to work every day, right? >> michael meadows is retracing